Interception

USAF fighters, usually F-22s out of Elmendorf these days, intercept Russian Tu-95 Bears all the time, but the presence of PLAAF bombers in this story caught my eye:

North American Aerospace Defense Command says it “detected, tracked, and intercepted” four bombers — two Russian and two Chinese — flying near Alaska on Wednesday.

The Russian Tupolev Tu-95 Bears and Chinese H-6 strategic bombers were operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone but “did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace,” NORAD announced in a press release after the incident.

The Xi'an H-6 is China's strategic bomber, originating as a license-built Tupolev Tu-16 in the late '50s.

UPDATE: Here's a story from the Beeb on the incident.

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